Review: Portal
Oct. 16th, 2007 11:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexxkaySo, one of the nice things work did recently was to give everyone copies of The Orange Box, the latest smorgasbord of games from Valve. I just finished playing one of them, and it demands to be written about: Portal.
This game started life as a student tech demo named (rather obscurely) "Narbacular Drop". If you google it, you can still find it for free download. The game looked like an FPS, but was really more of a puzzle/platformer. The player had only one 'gun', but it was a delightfully versatile one. Point it at a wall of the right substance, pull the trigger, and a portal opens up in that wall. Point at another wall, press the alt-fire, and another portal appears, linking the two points in space.
The sorts of puzzles that Portal tech allows are truly new and exciting. But really rather hard to describe, now that I try to. This is one that you really have to experience for yourself.
Some folks at Valve saw this project and snapped up the kids who had made it. They then gave them the resources to make a commercial version of their game, with triple-A production values.
In addition to the inherent fun of the gameplay, there also is a slowly emerging story of sorts. In classic Valve style, it is more implied than actually told, but it's very well done. And *funny*, if in a fairly twisted fashion. Special note to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
juldea: they commissioned an original song by Jonathan Coulton for the end credits, and it's quite delightful.
Be aware that the game is quite short. For an experienced gamer, the main plotline takes about three hours to get through. But they are extremely high quality hours. And there is extra content as well, including bonus challenge levels and a commentary feature; I haven't looked at any of that stuff yet, but I will doubtless be doing so in the near future. Certainly, if you buy it as part of The Orange Box, it's plenty of value for money. I believe you can also buy it individually over Steam if you like.
Last month, everyone in the gaming world was oohing and aahing over BioShock as the most interesting game to come along in ages. Now Portal is, deservedly, getting the same sort of buzz, albeit for totally different reasons. Very Highly Recommended.
This game started life as a student tech demo named (rather obscurely) "Narbacular Drop". If you google it, you can still find it for free download. The game looked like an FPS, but was really more of a puzzle/platformer. The player had only one 'gun', but it was a delightfully versatile one. Point it at a wall of the right substance, pull the trigger, and a portal opens up in that wall. Point at another wall, press the alt-fire, and another portal appears, linking the two points in space.
The sorts of puzzles that Portal tech allows are truly new and exciting. But really rather hard to describe, now that I try to. This is one that you really have to experience for yourself.
Some folks at Valve saw this project and snapped up the kids who had made it. They then gave them the resources to make a commercial version of their game, with triple-A production values.
In addition to the inherent fun of the gameplay, there also is a slowly emerging story of sorts. In classic Valve style, it is more implied than actually told, but it's very well done. And *funny*, if in a fairly twisted fashion. Special note to
juldea: they commissioned an original song by Jonathan Coulton for the end credits, and it's quite delightful.Be aware that the game is quite short. For an experienced gamer, the main plotline takes about three hours to get through. But they are extremely high quality hours. And there is extra content as well, including bonus challenge levels and a commentary feature; I haven't looked at any of that stuff yet, but I will doubtless be doing so in the near future. Certainly, if you buy it as part of The Orange Box, it's plenty of value for money. I believe you can also buy it individually over Steam if you like.
Last month, everyone in the gaming world was oohing and aahing over BioShock as the most interesting game to come along in ages. Now Portal is, deservedly, getting the same sort of buzz, albeit for totally different reasons. Very Highly Recommended.